


Divided we Stand

by manga_ranga, SonOfOrpheus



Series: Fire and Snow [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 09:38:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4474421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manga_ranga/pseuds/manga_ranga, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonOfOrpheus/pseuds/SonOfOrpheus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven finds a cleanly cut half of a gem while on a mission which makes Pearl and Garnet concerned, given that Rose Quartz crossed paths with a gem similar to it in the days of the rebellion. Their concerns ring true when after returning to Beach City an arcade game takes on a life of its own... literally.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alone in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> To keep in with the nature of the show, the chapters are short.

The ancient metal structure moaned in the night. Abandoned corridors were caked with dust and filth from remaining untouched by human hands for ages. Sand piles unevenly through the cracks in the steel walls. The machines that remained behind were shattered cyclopes, their screens smashed in from falling debris or some kind of struggle. Random bulbs flickered reds and blues in the darkness. Although no power source had been sighted and the human built generator was a smashed heap of junk. The deeper they went into the half sunken power station, the more it felt like something sinister had happened here.

It had started just like any other mission, another corrupted Gem to find and bubble. But rather than chase the creature down in some far flung corner of the Earth that had been influenced by nature or Gem civilisation, this just felt wrong. Maybe a few decades ago this was a functioning power station. Presently, it was a creepy bunker of outdated machines that slowly died in the darkness. Forgotten and alone.

Steven quickened his pace, not wanting to be left without help in this place. He easily caught up to Amethyst in a few steps due to their short statures. The violet skinned gem had wild ivory hair that was as free and uncaring as her current demeanour. She casually meandered behind Pearl, glancing at the strange machines and eyeing up any appealing junk to horde in her chamber back at the temple. Pearl towered over Amethyst, slinking carefully ahead of them, gracefully leaning around corners to see if anything was coming.

“Where did Garnet go?” Pearl shook her head, clearly agitated “This place is revoltingly filthy and a complete labyrinth.”

Amethyst leered back “I don’t know, it’s kind of growing on me.”

“It most definitely is growing, I can feel the dust collecting on me.”

A vicious rattling silenced their bickering. The trailing shadow of the skittering beast rushed past the corridor with the force of a locomotive. Debris chipped off the walls as too many legs thrashed wildly through the narrow space. Pearl and Amethyst breathed a sigh of relief as a familiar pink barrier enveloped them. Both turned to see Steven who despite looking like a young human boy with curly black hair was actually the holder of the Rose Quartz, now embedded in his belly button. He smiled back to them and popped the bubble barrier.

“Nice work Steven,” Amethyst cheered and clapped him on the shoulder “You’re getting way better at this.”

Steven blushed a little before reminding them “Garnet was on that thing’s head! We have to find her.”

“Come on, it’s Garnet. She can handle it.”

“No, Steven’s right, we need to help. We are a team after all.” Pearl reminded in her matter of fact way. She then took the lead, following the trail of destruction through the symmetrical tunnels.

The cacophony of fighting echoed through the corridors when they came to a control room. Central to the chamber was a series of computer screens, casting neon lights across the darkened walls. Amidst the glow was Garnet, stoic and ever defending against the corrupt gem’s onslaught. She countered a clumsy lunge from the writhing menace, snapping its twitching leg in the process. The corrupt gem was somewhere between a crystallised cockroach and flatworm. Impossibly flat body surrounded by wings, legs and antennae that freely crawled up any surface in the room.

Garnet caught sight of the other three catching up. Her voice commanded “Pearl! Amethyst! Pin it down! Steven! Stay back!”

Pearl conjured two shimmering spears from the gem on her forehead. With ethereal grace and precision, she aimed and threw them like javelin. The creature panicked as it felt its head become stuck to the wall it was trying the climb. Amethyst then summoned a long spiked whip from the gem on her chest. Lashing it wildly to wrap around the monster’s tail, she pulled with all her might and stretched the creature out. Garnet delivered the final blow as she smashed at the overstretched, and therefore weakened, rubbery skin of her foe. The monster exploded into a sparkling cloud of dust, leaving behind a twisted crystal among the rubble.

Garnet stepped calmly towards the fallen gemstone, levitating it upwards to her palms. She created a magic bubble around it before tapping the barrier gently to send it back to the temple. Smiling at her team mates, she coolly gave a thumbs up.

Pearl let out a sigh “Alright, so now can we leave this horrible place?”

“I think we should stay longer so Pearl can get used to it.” Amethyst remarked as she passed her taller and lither comrade. With a whistle she marvelled at the outdated machines of human origin. “I mean, look at all this stuff! The blinking lights would make my room look even more awesome!”

“It doesn’t even make sense as to how there are blinking lights in here. I haven’t seen any power generators and human technology is too primitive, everything they make needs to be plugged into something.”

Unbeknownst to them, Steven was occupied with a discovery of his own. Behind a wall of machines was a strange gem that appeared to be inactive. It was a black faceted gem splotched with grey patterns. There were no cracks on it, no sign it was a shard. A tall shadow was cast over him, the familiar square shaped afro made his worries cease.

Garnet inquired with a smirk “What’ve you got there?”

“I don’t know, I just saw something weird shining over here and found this.” Steven revealed the gem to her. Like always he could not gage her reaction as her visor covered her three eyes.

He saw her bite the corner of her lip so slightly before saying “Interesting. We can look at it back at the temple.”

Steven nodded in agreement as he bubbled it and warped it back. Pearl and Amethyst’s arguments were growing more heated in the background, signalling now may be time for intervention.

They turned away to miss a deviation in the old computer screens. For a moment static flickered silently, clearing to reveal the vague outline of a face looking back at them. It screamed a voice no one could hear before the image shattered on screen into nothingness.

None of them had even witnessed it as they left the rotting power station.

None of them realised the wires and lights were slowly dimming in the darkness.


	2. Igniting Caution

Deep within the fabrics of reality was the inner sanctum of the temple. Within the magically crafted reality was a holding chamber far below the crystal heart that allowed this place to exist and sustained it. A pool of magma boiled and churned in the centre of an intricately patterned floor. Across the walls were the gemstone arteries and veins that fed the heart of the temple. The crystalline tubes were set all over as they disappeared upwards and downwards through the chamber. Squatting on the surfaces like ancient shimmering vines. In the high recesses of the chamber were magic bubbles, some pink, some red, some purple and some white. Each contained a dormant gem that had been denied the ability to reform as they were. In reality such gems were corrupted and derived of any ability to form a stable body without going into a murderous rage, like they were driven insane simply by existing beyond their gemstone.

Pearl was most surprised when Garnet requested that she come here. Usually Garnet was the one who tended to the bubbles and disposed of the ones too far gone to be saved. They had to be careful with their meeting, waiting for Amethyst and Steven to run off before they attempted to do so.

Garnet was waiting for her, one of Steven’s bubble hovered in her outstretched hand. Pearl silenced her question when she caught sight of the gem inside. That black, glassy surface mottled with patches of grey. Her hands went to her mouth as she gasped, her body physically reeling back at the sight of it. Garnet nodded back solemnly “I knew you’d recognise it.”

“It’s that infected thing! But Rose told me she dealt with that… that!” Pearl pointed accusingly at the bubbled gem in question “Garnet, we have to get rid of it! It might infect all of us with cristobalite.”

She calmly answered, lifting the bubble out of Pearl’s reach “That would have been a danger if we were still in the process of forming.”

“Steven still is forming!”

“But he’s… different so he’s not in any danger from it.”

“But you remember what it does, what it can do! That… _thing_ … it made.” Pearl reeled back, arms tightly wrapping around her shoulders as she shook her head “Who knows what happened to that poor gem it infested. Rose never found the other part of that fusion.”

“I know Pearl, that abomination was not a stable fusion. The gems who made it obviously did not trust each other in any way.”

“Well, that’s an understatement! I mean, really, Garnet why haven’t you destroyed it yet!?”

Garnet remarked, lowering her arm now that Pearl had calmed a little, “Steven found it.”

“He touched it!? Oh no, I have to find him and check for infection!”

Garnet grabbed Pearl by her arm before she could flee the chamber “He’ll be fine.”

Pearl pleaded “How can you say that!? Surely you can see that no good future can come from this!”

“Yes, but there’s also a possibility that Steven can help this gem.”

“Oh no, you have to destroy this thing right now! It’s not even symmetrical.” Pearl’s eyes widened as she almost flipped “IT’S ONLY HALF OF IT!” She began shaking neurotically “But you said Steven can help it!? You think it’s going to be alright?”

Garnet shrugged nonchalantly “Sure.”

“Well, I suppose if there’s half here, the other half will come looking for it.” Pearl nodded to herself, still failing miserably to hide her anxiety “Maybe we can plan an ambush!”

“Alright Pearl.” Garnet replied as she returned to tending to the bubbles. She knew she would have to keep a close eye on this one in the days to come.

 

* * *

 

The rhythmic whisper of waves dancing back and forth across the sand, lulled Steven into a sense of calm serenity. It was just another beautiful day in Beach City. The ancient statue of an eight armed woman cradled his home in her lowest set of hands. He could not even guess when this statue was made or who it was even meant to represent. The stone giant rested against the tall cliff, a lighthouse perched on its crest, as they both gazed out onto the never ending sea. Lion was currently sleeping bellow the patio of the beach house, his ears twitching at any disturbance in the breeze.

“Steven, think fast!” Amethyst cackled, picking up a nearby rock the size of a bowling ball and hurled it towards Steven.

He reacted with ease, drawing his shield from his gem, to deflect it in one countering charge.

She laughed “Awesome work Steven! Maybe I should throw a boulder at you next time.”

Steven nervously smiled back, his shield vanished back into his gem “Please don’t.”

“Aw come on! How else are you going to get more confident without surprise attacks?”

“AMETHYST!” Pearl yelled from the patio as she came out to see the whole spectacle. She marched down to the beach, firstly checking Steven for injuries before turning to Amethyst “I thought I told you NOT to do things like this to Steven. He needs to be trained in a proper arena.”

“Since when do we fight in proper arenas on a mission?” Amethyst smirked back “Oh, right, coz Garnet secretly sends out invitations to all the monsters to meet us here but they prefer fighting in other places so we go to them.”

Pearl’s brow knitted with irritation “You’re taking my notion out of context.”

She laughed, relishing in Pearl’s frustration “I’m just calling it as I see it.”

“Does Garnet really do that?” Steven inquired “Because that’s really nice of her.”

Pearl’s anger vented momentarily, her usual calm demeanour appearing again “No Steven, some creatures can’t be civil, so we destroy them before they can hurt others with their actions.”

He titled his head at her “So… no invitations?”

“No invitations.”

“Oh… could we try inviting them? We could have a barbeque and everything.”

Pearl was cut off by Amethyst cackling in the background. She then ran a hand through Steven’s curls, feeling more relieved now her anger had been quelled.

He smiled back “Speaking of food, I think I’m going to grab something from the boardwalk. You guys want anything while I’m there?” He noticed them both shake their heads “Alright then.” Steven waved to them as he began to head up the beach towards the city.


	3. A glitch

The sun hung high in the sky as Steven sauntered down the boardwalk. The first landmark in sight was the familiar Big Donut. He tapped his chin while walking “Do I want a doughnut or the bits or the za?”

Beach City was as peaceful as any other town, until something odd happened, usually a result of the Steven and the Crystal Gems. The heart of the city was the boardwalk down on the shore, the golden sandy expanse between the green grass of the land and the cerulean ocean. The collection of eateries and amusement park attractions perched on the edge of the city to watch the waves. Further inland was a typical suburbia that Steven rarely went to given that he lived at the temple and only really came to town to walk the boardwalk or see his dad at the car wash.

The smell of frying cooking oil mixed with the smell of melting cheese told Steven that he had already walked past the Big Donut. He was coming up to Beach Citywalk Fries and Fish Stew Pizza. He could already see Peedee tending to the counter and serving customers. As he passed the wall painted with a fish mural, the side door of Fish Stew Pizza was flung open.

Jenny walked out, slipping on her usual leather jacket with a fur lined collar over her singlet and shorts. She casually called back into the shop “Relax Kiki, no one orders deliveries at this time of day. Nana, you need me to grab anything while I’m out?” A few murmurs came from within the store, Jenny teased “Okay, I’ll be back before the dinner rush… maybe.” Then she checked her nails as she stepped out, her brown skin shone in the sun. She then noticed him and smiled while waving “Hey Steven!”

“Hi Jenny!” He caught up to her “How are you? It’s been a while.”

“Great now I’m out of the shop. Yeah I know, things got pretty crazy when we took you out that night but we’ve totally gotta hang out again.” She winked “Maybe without the freaky ball next time.”

“I’d like that, it’s lucky the gems came to get me out of it.” Steven smiled to her “Thanks for stopping Garnet from hitting me into outer space. Like that’d be fun because space looks so beautiful, but I’d miss everyone here too much.”

“You sure you’re alright? Sounds like you’ve been through some heavy things lately.”

“I think I am now… kinda. It’s hard to tell.”

“Well, you know you can call on me, Buck and Sour Cream if you ever need a break from it all.”

Steven felt somewhat relieved that she didn’t want to know any further details. They did not know fully about what kind of danger he really did find himself in on a regular basis and he hoped they never would.

The sound of a phone ringing distracted Jenny from him as she checked her cell phone. Her face light up as she laughed “Oh Steven, we gotta head over to the Funland Arcade right now. Buck texted me that Sour Cream found a secret level in one of the games that he didn’t even know was there.”

“Really? But I thought Sour Cream was the game master, he’s beaten all the games in the arcade.”

“I know, so it must be pretty awesome or wickedly hard if he’s only uncovered it now.”

“Well, can I grab the bits before we head over?”

“Alright, I feel like fries too.”

 

* * *

 

Chip tune music melded together with a double bass and an electro beat to create the chaotic fusion of sound that accompanied the surreal graphics on screen. The pixelated madness wavered, shifting the platforms and terrain of level. It was constantly throwing down the challenges of previous levels to hinder his progress. Sour Cream had to admit he was impressed by this secret level, it seemed to push the limits of the decades old arcade machine. The only goal he could see was attempting to catch the woman with hair striped black and white. Every time he tried to get close, she would screech like static and the level would shift again. There had to be some clue as to how to beat her. In the previous boss fights it just involved jumping over the wingless dragon to get the axe and cut the bridge or hitting the shiny bit of the boss sprite. This one seemed to belay any of the game’s prior strategies.

Presently Mr Smiley was busy with the Funland park rides and most of the tourists were on the boardwalk. The rows of arcade machines spanned the past thirty years, allowing the arcade to have a decent range of retro classics and modern wonders. Buck adjusted his glasses, trying to appear disinterested. He ran a hand through his hair “Hey, where’d Onion go?” He then noticed one of the game machines panels pried open with a screwdriver “Never mind. I think he ran off.”

Sour Cream noted out loud “Probably down at the pier waiting for my step-dad.”

“So he’s coming back soon?”

“Yeah… not really looking forward to it. Can’t DJ with him in the house.”

“Hey guys, whoa! What level is this!?” Jenny remarked, moving close to the Sour Cream’s side to get a better look at the screen. She blinked and rubbed her eyes “How are you not dizzy from looking at it?”

“It’s a pretty fun level, even if the boss has no strategy. Maybe the developers never completed this one.” Sour Cream responded, eyes never leaving the screen, his continuously monotone voice added “But the beats are chill, I should make something like this for my next rave.”

Buck high fived Steven in the background, accepting the young boy’s offer of fried bits. “If you’re inviting people from the internet, don’t tell that Kevin guy. He doesn’t care about your music, he just wants to send out negativity.”

Steven piped up “Come on Buck, he’s a really good dancer and he’s not so bad... I think.”

“And there’s that optimism to balance the group out.”

Jenny cheered, stepping back so he could get a glance at the screen “Steven, you have got to come check this out!”

Sour Cream said without turning his head “This is probably a glitch in the coding but it’s a pretty awesome glitch. Just going to ride it out and see where it goes.”

His eyes light up with stars when Steven gazed at the screen. “This is amazing!” The surreal monochromatic display on screen seemed to keep rolling on.


	4. Got you

Another appearance of the strange stripe haired woman appeared who screamed, distorting the electro boogie of the music. Buck shook his head with annoyance while Sour Cream only looked more determined to keep playing. Steven thought it was a strange level, Sour Cream kept getting close to the mystery woman only to be yelled at and then reset in a completely different place. Each one more abstract and challenging for a platformer, that utilised all the components available from the game code. Something was off, it was almost like the game was thinking for itself. Steven suggested “Maybe you should stop chasing that lady?”

Sour Cream answered “But I haven’t beaten the level yet.”

“Well, maybe that’s not the way to beat it.”

Jenny nodded to herself “That’s a good point, you’ve run this thing like five times since we got here.”

Buck added “Yeah, perhaps a change in strategy is needed and we also ate all the fries and now we were talking about getting a pizza so-”

“I’m going to beat this level,” Sour Cream bluntly informed, his hands working their magic on the controller as he countered every challenge the game threw at him “If this is a glitch, it may not be here next time.”

Jenny raised an eyebrow at his change in demeanour “I thought you got tired of this place years ago.”

“Onion still likes it so I brought him down here a couple hours ago. He plays his games and I play mine.”

Steven’s face light up again “Yeah, Onion is the ticket master! He won that scooter…” He then furrowed his brow “Wait, how long have you playing, Sour Cream?”

“I finished the last level of the game within like an hour and half, but this one… uh… I’m not sure.”

Steven stood on his tip toes to get the lanky alabaster teen’s attention. Little did he realise his shirt rode up a little to reveal the Rose Quartz gem. “Maybe you should take a break then, I can take over!”

In that instant, static overwhelmed the screen, the lively chip tune jive was drowned out by a chaotic, primal scream. Buck and Jenny backed away quickly as they saw something form from the pandemonium of the screen. Sour Cream quickly shoved Steven away when a hand materialised from the static, passing through the glass screen and lashing out to grab them. With a heavy thud, Steven collapsed to the ground, already he could see Buck and Jenny sprinting from the arcade. He turned around to see that the creature made of static intended to emerge from the game fully.

Sour Cream was still in its grasp despite his struggling, its misshapen hand was wrapped around his face. Appearing to be split vertically as it slowly crawled out from within the screen, the right half of its body was vague human with light and static wavering its silhouette uneasily. The left half was more like a basic shell of a person. The face was a half mask with holes for an eye and mouth. Half a row of black and white striped hair was slicked back in a jagged, spiked mane. A black band rested at the end of its arm, its torso covered with a bodysuit that was divided into panels by a white band that went curved from around the neck, beneath the shoulder and looped around the waist.

When it fully materialised, the game’s screen went completely black. Steven saw the source of this monster, a piece of a black gem flecked with grey patches rested in a hole in its left cheek. The hole was not full though. He then remembered the gem he had found at the power station. Cautiously, he stood, keeping an eye on Sour Cream and the corrupt gem, he said calmly “Are you… looking for your friend?”

The corrupted gem paused, Steven nodded “I know where they are, I can take you to them.” He raised his arms defensively but calmly “Just relax, there’s no reason to be scared. Relaxing feels really good, why don’t you try it?” The gem watched him like a hawk, he quickly added while gesturing to Sour Cream “Why not let him go so he can relax too?”

The gem complied, it released its hand from Sour Cream’s face. Steven gestured with a slow wave of his arm. It took all Sour Cream’s will to remain calm and slowly back away to a safe distance. Steven remained in control with his upbeat grin “See, isn’t this much better? We’re all friends now.”

The static around the gem smoothed to a wavering gentle light. It looked to him with its half face, its voice was a garbled screech like when Greg’s amps were playing up.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand anything you say. But I promise I’ll help you.”

One word came through the distortion “W… Wh…y?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

The gem tilted what he suspected was its head. It was completely stunned by his response to the point where it did not even move. Even the light was set on pause and appeared to stop wavering. Its semi solid hand went to a half symbol resting on its chest, embedded in the white band. When it looked up from Steven it let out another screech and waved its other arm. On command, the rows of games collapsed on one another to block a familiar, amethyst encrusted whip from reaching them.

“The Gems?” Steven noticed Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl already advancing towards them. He threw his hands up “Wait! Don’t freak it out again!”

Pearl was more frantic than usual “Steven! Get away from that thing before it infects you!”

Amethyst blinked, she then snapped “Infects? What are you on about!?” Pearl immediately fell silent, realising that Amethyst was too young to know. She snapped at Garnet “Why do you guys leave me out of things like this!?”

Garnet replied coldly “That information has never been relevant until now.”

“Wait, it’s not bad, maybe scared, but not trying to infect anyone,” Steven waved his arms as he put himself between the Gems and the corrupted gem “It just wants to be with its friend, that gem I found at the power plant.”

His plea fell on deaf ears, the corrupted gem waved their arms and lifted the fallen machinery. With another gesture the debris began to spin wildly through the room. Sparks from ripped out wires, shrapnel of damaged screens and the bulky modules made it a death trap. Steven tried to stop the gem from disappearing but it stepped back into the storm like it was one with the mayhem. He then realised, that he was standing in the eye of the telekinetic cyclone and completely unharmed.


	5. Fear the light

The wild storm continued to spin uncontrollably within the arcade. Debris and sparking wires wildly jarred from all directions. Pearl side stepped a whiplash of spark emitting power cords. She carefully kept an eye on the battlefield. Amethyst was already manoeuvring low on the ground to avoid the bulk of the destroyed machines. She was heading in Steven’s direction yet the boy seemed to be throwing his arms up and yelling something. None of the Gems could hear his voice now. Along with the floating mayhem came a horrible static in the air that made it hard to hear anything.

A loud crash amidst the madness brought their attention upwards. Garnet had ascended the spinning chaos to go toe to toe with the corrupted gem. Her future site allowed her to predict where the fragments of arcade consoles would move, permitting her to keep up with the monster in question. In turn she countered and deflected the monster’s advances and rough swings. The savage being had moved beyond using skill and strategy, it was as unbridled and wild as the telekinetic storm it conjured. Amethyst lashed her whip upwards to attempt to ensnare the monster. Garnet followed through, aiming her fist to clash into the creature’s half masked head. The corrupt gem only cackled, the whip and Garnet passed right through it. It raised its arms, collecting a mass of arcade consoles to then smash into Garnet and Amethyst as a huge wrecking ball.

Steven ducked, just missing a bouncing console. He wanted to move, wanted to help, but it felt like every time he tried to join in the fray he was barred. He shouted to the creature “Why are you doing this!?”

Panic consumed him when he could not see Garnet or Amethyst emerge from the crashed wreckage. The storm had eased now a large portion of the projectiles had been used to disable them temporarily. A spear of light cut through, the monster instinctively moved out of the way. It screeched as it narrowly sliced through its arm. The corrupt gem wildly looked around for the source the attack.

“It’s scared of light? But I thought gems **were** light?” Steven turned around “Pearl…”

Before the chaos, stood Pearl, spear armed and her body poised to strike at the monster. “Let’s see if you can handle this!” She called out, raising her weapon to unleash a barrage of light beams. In turn, the monster knew what had occurred and tried to flee. The hail of pure light pierced through its corrupt, unstable form. They ripped its half masked body to shreds, forcing the monster to retreat into its gem with an explosion of dust.

Pearl stood again, resting her weight on her spear, it was a gamble to invest that much of her strength into a single attack. “It… worked?” She laughed triumphantly “IT WORKED!”

Without the corrupt gem conscious, the storm stopped spinning and everything slowly returned to the ground. Steven felt himself being swept up by Garnet as she sprinted through. He saw Amethyst in the background catching the gem and bubbling it to warp it to the temple. In the mad scramble, dodging the falling trashed machines and arcade prizes. They all miraculously made it out safely to the boardwalk.

Knowing they were safe for the time being, Garnet lowered Steven to the ground. He despondently looked at the destruction that corrupt gem had created. He was glad Mr Smiley was not at the arcade today but knew he would be livid or at least as angry as a man who always smiles could get. At least Jenny, Buck and Sour Cream were able to get away safely. He wondered if they’d still want to hang out with him given how often crazy things seemed to happen to him.

Garnet’s voice brought him back to the present “Steven?”

“Steven, we won! I still can’t believe it.” Pearl was beaming and giddy “I mean, I didn’t expect it to disperse so easily from a light attack.”

He tilted his head at her “Why is that? It’s just… aren’t gems all about light so why would it be weak to it?”

“Oh well… uh…” Pearl’s victory euphoria shattered in an instant, she fell silent and looked away “All opponents have a weakness, no matter how strong they appear.”

Amethyst chimed in “And last time I checked, corrupt gems don’t look like that. That thing didn’t even have a solid body.” She stood before Pearl in defiance “Unless, there’s something wrong with it!”

“Amethyst.” Garnet interjected, the shorter gem backed away, “Rose Quartz thought she had seen the last of gems infected with cristobalite during the rebellion. That defect gives them unusual properties.”

“So… that gem is sick?” Garnet glanced down to see Steven, he asked with concern “If it’s sick, then what can we do to help it? Should I try my healing powers?”

“Steven, we can’t undo it. It was formed that way.”

Pearl quickly informed “That… thing. Is dangerous Steven, you must not make contact with it at any time.”

Amethyst rolled her eyes “You haven’t explained why. Aren’t you just setting us up to go looking for those gems?”

Garnet became more serious than usual “If it touches you, it may force you into a fusion.”

“Big deal, if it’s unstable it stops existing.” Amethyst casually shrugged back.

“No, it won’t.” Garnet then left abruptly as she usually did. Pearl quickly followed looking like a nervous wreck. She moved fast to catch up with her.

Amethyst rolled her eyes, still annoyed by how little she seemed to know of gems compared to the other Crystal Gems. She then smirked, an idea coming to mind “Hey Steven, want to see those two gems back at the temple?”

Still distressed by what had occurred, Steven slowly nodded without looking up from his feet.

“We just need to wait for Garnet and Pearl to go out. Then, we can sneak into the Burning Room and find those gems.”

He looked up at her “Really?”

“Really! But let’s keep this our secret short gems plan.”

“But what if Garnet and Pearl do something to them before we can find them?”

“I’ve never actually seen them smash a gem into smithereens. So, it should be alright. They’ll just leave them in the bubbles.” Amethyst could still see the concern wrought on Steven’s face “Ok, ok, I’ll check on the bubbles when we get home and let you know.”

Steven smiled back to her and nodded. They both then casually sauntered back to the temple.


	6. Snowflake Obsidian

A week or so had gone by until both Garnet and Pearl were away from the temple. The window of opportunity was too good to pass up. The clock on his bedside table revealed to be some early hour of the morning when Amethyst dragged him out of bed. Steven wiped the sleep from his eyes as he padded after her. First through the curving purple door into the junkyard she called her room. He recalled how they discovered a random portal to the Burning Room by jumping into one of the various puddles and pools. While a waterfall cascaded down the edge of the cavern, the jagged stone walls were adorned with various treasures Amethyst had accumulated with time.

They came to the puddle in question, Steven still did not quite understand how it was even possible, but he was thankful for its existence. The temple always felt like this anomaly that should not logically exist. Yet here it stood, for far longer than he could guess. He was still plagued by questions of who actually built such a magical place and how could they make it possible. Other than the usual magic reason which seemed to be more a way of dodging the truth or complexities of the matter. Then again, maybe he was too young to understand all this.

Amethyst waved to him “Steven? Why you spacing out? Come on!”

She carefully passed through the water barrier into the upper corner of the Burning Room. The lava pool illuminated the chamber in an eerie glow. Bubbled gems floated in the air, never moving or reacting. Their innate state made them numb to the world around them. Amethyst climbed down a crystal artery to reach the floor, keeping a watchful eye on the bubbles to look for the two split ones. She found them both floating lower to the ground than usual. It was suspicious for them to be so easily discovered.

“Well… it’s now or never Steven.” Amethyst glanced around when she realised he was not beside her “Steven?”

He was still stuck on a crystal artery overhead, legs wriggling as he tried to work out a safe way to slide down. His fingers lost their grip, sending him tumbling until Amethyst caught him with ease. Steven nervously smiled back, feet returning to solid ground “That was kind of fun.” He saw the two bubbles in question, each encapsulating one half of the gem. “So… what do we do now?”

“This.” Amethyst flicked them with her finger. One bubble bounced into the other and broke the delicate membranes that held them.

Steven caught them before they could drop to the floor. “I’m not ready yet!” He let out a yelp as he noticed them glow.

Amethyst coolly instructed “Fix them with your healing powers. Quick, before they wake up.”

Realising the urgency of the situation, Steven reluctantly licked each side of the gem and then stuck the two halves together to make a square shape. The division shone briefly and dissipated to reveal the fully formed gem. It took on a life of its own as it hovered away from them to take form. She appeared to be height of Pearl with a body like Amethyst and skin the colour of smoke. A mess of thick spikes was slicked back to rest on her shoulders to resemble hair, each one striped black and white. She wore a bodysuit that left her arms bare and bore a black diamond between her collar bones. From the point of the panel around her waist was the skirt of a coat that revealed her pant covered legs and knee high boots. Upon forming she swayed uneasily and fell back, right into the lava pool.

Before either of them could panic, the new gem rose from it like she rising from a refreshing swim. She shook off globs of magma finally allowing Steven and Amethyst to look at her face. The irises of her eyes were white while the sclera was jet black. Her gem was embedding in her left cheek. She blinked a few times, adjusting to her new surroundings and the two gems before her. Finally speaking to reveal a lopsided mouth that extended up the side of her face to where her right ear would be. “Um… Greetings?”

Steven blurted out “I’m sorry, your mouth is in the wrong place. I healed you wrong!”

“What? No, my mouth has always been like this…” She scratched at her head, nervously adding “Check it out, I can lick my eye!” She then proceeded to do so, her tongue was long, almost reptilian.

Steven smiled back, laughing a little “Oh, that’s a relief. I’m still learning how to use my powers.”

Amethyst bluntly said “You’re not gonna try anything weird, are you?”

The new gem then understood “No, ah, let me guess, my cristobalite was playing up again. What can I say? My gem doesn’t like being in pieces so when I’m dormant, they wake up some times when you give them a power source.”

Amethyst kept a wary eye on the gem, it was peculiar that she was so calm. The act might have fooled Steven but Amethyst could see her carefully eyeing up the chamber.

Steven’s eyes light up with stars “So you’re a fusion?”

“No, just a regular gem.” She pointed to her cheek, still remaining playful “See, only one of these on me.”

“I’m Steven by the way and that’s Amethyst, who are you?”

“A Steven? …huh, must be a new breed of gem.” She shrugged it off “I’m Snowflake Obsidian… um, what year is it by the way? And why am I in a burning room and what’s with all the gems in bubbles?” Her eyes widened, her body tensing as she suggested “Is this a rebel prison? Were you all caught by Rose Quartz’s forces?” She breathed in and out, continuing calmly “It’s ok, we’ll figure out a plan to get out of here. Have either of you seen any guards?”

Amethyst sighed to herself “Whoa, you’ve been gone a long time, like a few thousand years. The rebellion is over.”

“WHAT!?” She picked Amethyst up and started shaking her “What happened!? Who won!? Why haven’t the Diamond Authority made contact!? Where’s the rest of my squad!?” She stopped the shaking, her eyes widened as she desperately asked “Where is Rose Quartz?”

She snarled back “Whoa, I don’t know, I wasn’t there! And Rose isn’t here either. Why does it matter?”

Steven was about to speak up, when Snowflake Obsidian’s voice dripped venom “Who do you think sliced me in half to begin with!? You really think I’m going to let her catch me off guard again. She only beat me last time because that gem I fused with didn’t cooperate and our fusion went insane and unstable.” Snowflake Obsidian put Amethyst down, calming herself as she drew conclusions “Then… you came from the kindergarten.” She knelt down to Amethyst “An Earth grown gem… you’re amazing. Is this how the Amethysts form here?”

Amethyst pulled away from her, eyeing her with caution like a wild beast.

“Snowflake Obsidian, uh, can I call you Snowy?” She nodded back, Steven made sure to hide his gem from sight “Why don’t you come out with us? We can show you how earth has changed. Also if you have friends then we can work out a way to find them.”

Snowflake Obsidian gestured overhead “But what about all those!?”

Amethyst answered “They’re corrupt, dude.”

Snowflake Obsidian dropped the subject immediately “Probably for the best to leave them, so, how do we get out?”

Steven gestured her to follow with Amethyst by his side. For a moment Snowflake Obsidian hesitated, her gaze examining each bubble overhead. “They’re not here.” She muttered to herself as she followed after them.


	7. Bitter memories

The comforting sight of violet hued geodes filtered out when they reached the door of the temple. Snowflake Obsidian kept quiet and a few paces back, carefully cataloguing observations in her mind. The geodes were expected, Gems had a tendency to find solace when surrounded by the types of conditions that helped them form. The water flowing from overhead and among the islands of junk suggested another Gem’s influence. There was no way that this Steven and Amethyst were the only ones who dwelled here. The enchanted doorway curved with a purple, viscous hue as the stones parted in an instant to unveil a chamber she had never seen before in any Gem structure.

Before it was a crystal warp pad, surrounded by blackened, polished stone and clusters of large shimmering gemstones. The stone then shifted to a grainy, light coloured wood. There appeared to be areas for sitting, windows overlooking a perfectly sunny day at a beach, yet there were oddities in these living quarters as well. Snowflake Obsidian ignored the chatter of the smaller gem called Steven as she paused before a counter that enveloped a series of strange devices. The large alabaster safe took her interest, she tenderly pulled on the only visible handle. A strange chill appeared to be emanating from within along with foreign objects. This did not appear to be any form of Gem technology.

Steven laughed to himself when he noticed Snowflake Obsidian carefully examining a container of cream cheese. Her furrowed brow only intensified as she continued to observe the flattened cylinder. Like Amethyst, he knew he had to be careful given her reaction to Rose Quartz in passing. At the same time, she did not appear to be overly sinister. She lacked that menacing stance of Jasper or the sly apathy of Peridot. While Amethyst was ahead of them and already outside, Steven wandered over to her “Well, open it up and have a taste. It’s delicious, goes great with a bagel.”

Snowflake Obsidian tapped the container against a wall “What do you mean? I don’t understand what you do with this thing.”

“You know, you eat it.” Steven then clicked his fingers “Oh right, you’re a Gem so you don’t need to eat. But you can still try some, hang on, I know I still have two bagels left. You’re going to love it!”

“Eat? What you mean by eat? How do you know I’m going to love it? It could be disgusting and I hate it.”

“Well, how do you know that you’re not going to love it?” Steven brushed past her to find the bagels “You gotta give things a chance before you make a decision.”

“I see, but… wait, what!?” By then Snowflake Obsidian had reached down and grabbed Steven’s arm. She lifted him up with ease, bewildered as she scratched her head with her free hand “Why are you so… squishy? You’re not like a Gem at all.”

Steven flailed his legs, trying to loosen the grip around his wrist, as he dangled helplessly he urged “Well, uh… in case you forgot, Earth is home to humans, I’m one of them. We’re a little different to Gems… actually, humans and gems are really different… We still get along really well.”

“I see, so the rebellion won the war and destroyed the homeworld forces.”

He laughed a little and smiled back “Yeah, but it’s not so bad, really. It just means now you can see how beautiful Earth is. It’s not a loss, it’s a new chance.” He felt himself panic, fumbling with words to fill the eerie silence “People are really nice here and I’ll help you make new friends and find your old ones. I promise, Snowy. I’m sure once you see what Earth is like, you’ll all love it here.” The grip around his arm tightened like a vice. He stopped talking and smiling.

Snowflake Obsidian’s face was like stone, her eyes were narrows and burning with ire. Steven then realised his shirt had ridden up to reveal the Rose Quartz embedded on his belly. She coldly, fiercely tossed him on to the kitchen bench and held him down by pressing on his upper chest. “ROSE!? You certainly shocked me, never thought you could shape shift like this, then again you’ve always been a special little gem, always above the rules.” She remained detached despite Steven’s eyes welling with tears “I don’t know what game you’re playing at, but it’s sick!” Her voice erupted with each question “Imprisoning corrupted gems instead of smashing them!? Have you no mercy!?” Her hand pressing down on Steven’s ribs, making him writhe more “Are you trying to raise a monster army to conquer the homeworld!?” She was practically frothing at the mouth by now “You think you’re so above us, but you still abuse the trust of the Gems around you for your own gain!” Steven felt his heart almost stop, the last remark cut right through him “You’re a fraud, a tourist who has no real investment in the planets you visit. **You** only care about having **your** fun and how dare anyone interrupt **your** playtime!” She hissed cruelly, her free hand clenching to a fist as she eyed Steven’s gem “You’re not going to trap me again! Say goodbye!”

“Get off him!” Amethyst’s voice yelled out of Steven’s vision. Her gemstone encrusted whip lashed around Snowflake Obsidian’s neck and with a strong pull, the Gem was sent flying away from Steven.

He remained pinned to the benchtop, glass shattered and wood splintered in the background. Finally whimpering as the tears began to roll down his cheeks. Steven uneasily rose to standing then climbing carefully from the bench. The front door and window had been smashed asunder as Amethyst and Snowflake Obsidian fought on the dunes outside. Still shaking, he went to the wrecked doorway to watch the spectacle unfold.

Amethyst did her best to evade the barrage of spinning blades that tore through the earth and air. Snowflake Obsidian revealed her weapon to be a series of black and silver chakrams riddled with jagged claws. The gems embedded upon the rings glowed eerily like their wielder’s eyes. The spinning rings of blades moved wildly and vindictively, barring Amethyst from even getting close to her. With a curt smile, Snowflake Obsidian had by then a total of six chakrams whirling around the beach. It was as unpredictable as the madness her split gem had created back at the arcade. Only this time it was more controlled and carefully aimed.

Steven was in awe by Amethyst, she ducked and side stepped to avoid the clean cuts of the chakrams. Sand was send flying upwards in waves from the momentum. Amethyst curled into a ball to arc around the fight and blind side Snowflake Obsidian. This was countered with ease as a slab of bedrock jutting from the sand in the distance was brought down between them. Amethyst was thrown off trajectory and tumbled onto the sand. She looked up to see the chakrams still spinning but levitating overhead like vultures. Snowflake Obsidian raised her arm, the boulder followed her gesture as it wafted upwards.

Amethyst blurted out “How are you doing that!?”

“Telekinesis.” Snowflake Obsidian answered calmly, her hands performed mild gestures to keep everything in control.

“Well, aren’t you clever, good thing I don’t play fair either.” Amethyst back flipped to her feet and charged. Her body was engulfed in light as she assumed the form of her wrestler persona, the Purple Puma. With her strength and fortitude heightened, she smashed through the boulder intended to end her with ease. Amethyst raised her muscular arms upwards to form a fist as she threw them downwards to crush Snowflake Obsidian’s head.

The other gem countered by stepping aside with grace, calmly remarking “When you’re too showy, you expose weaknesses through grand, exaggerated moves.” The chakrams reacted to her whims as they swirled through the air and shot towards the now vulnerable Amethyst.

Amethyst scrambled to her feet, reverting to her normal body in a panic as the six blades were aimed at her with the force of a hurricane.


	8. Escape

Amethyst felt her body drift from the sands and lift higher to look at the sky. Gusts of sand flew up wildly like a storm. A strong arm was wrapped around her waist as the smaller Gem was sent tumbling out of harm’s way. She looked up, brushing her hair from her eyes to see Garnet charging towards Snowflake Obsidian. Gauntlets armed as she lunged forward, her future sight permitted her to get closer to the enemy and avoid the barrage of chakrams. All sound had drained from Amethyst’s world as she got her bearings.

The carnage intensified between Garnet and Snowflake Obsidian. Sand storms burst up at random from the movements of the telekinetic chakrams while punches landed from the gauntlets ruptured the earth. It was near impossible to decipher their movements amidst the reactions to their fighting. Amethyst stood and looked back towards the house, to her relief Steven was unharmed. Although he appeared inconsolable as he buried his face in Pearl’s chest. Her arms protectively wrapped around him, although she did not take her eyes off Garnet.

When the sand finally settled, Garnet had Snowflake Obsidian in her grasp. The chakrams had vanished the moment her focus was lost. One hand gripped around her neck while Garnet’s arm drew back for one final hit. It appeared that her chaotic whirl of blades could not compete with clairvoyance. Snowflake Obsidian refused to surrender as she kicked her legs up and slammed them into Garnet’s chest to separate them. Now free, she bolted back in the direction of the house, alerting Pearl and Amethyst to be on guard. However, she passed right by them and headed back towards the temple.

Amethyst was nearly bowled over as Garnet sprinted past in pursuit of Snowflake Obsidian. The familiar chime of the warp pad activating resonated in the air. A column of light sent the two Gems sprawling through the warp stream. Uncertainty plagued her with each step, Amethyst stood before Pearl who was glaring at her in a mix of anger and disapproval.

“This wasn’t my fault!” Amethyst defensively snapped “Steven wanted to see that Gem.”

Pearl was fuming “Garnet and I told you to leave it alone!”

“How we were supposed to know that Gem would be dangerous!?”

Steven finally cried out “She only turned bad because she thought I was my mum… Snowy was nice until she saw the Rose Quartz. Then she went strange…”

Amethyst bluntly said “Strange is an understatement, she tried to smash your gem! She would’ve done it if I didn’t grab her!”

Pearl masked her anger towards Amethyst, she hastily said to Steven “So this Snowy is a threat capable of smashing gems without any consideration of what that means?”

“I don’t know,” Steven wiped his eyes but they kept crying “Why would she want to?”

“Peridot tried to do the same as well. Even Jasper and Lapis attempted to hurt you severely.” Pearl then fell silent, realising the words had accidentally fallen from her mind without consideration.

Steven then pulled away from her, he solemnly wandered up the stairs to his bed. Amethyst and Pearl could do nothing but watch as he wrapped himself in a cocoon of blankets. Swathed in the covers, Steven could hide from the world for a while.

 

* * *

 

 

The laws of gravity ceased to apply in the warp stream. The ribbons of shimmering light spanned the cold, empty cosmos to join pad to pad. Garnet moved attempted to move through the light to catch up with Snowflake Obsidian who was just a few steps ahead. She lunged forward, grabbing Snowflake Obsidian’s ankle. The stream kept on moving at a rapid pace. Eventually it was going to run out and empty them into the world around the opposing warp pad. At least in the stream, there was less of a chance to escape.

Snowflake Obsidian looked back with a sneer “My mission has changed.”

Garnet shouted back “Your mission is invalid now!”

“No. It’s not. We will finish what was started.”

Garnet was surprised by those words, even in the days of the rebellion no soldier of the homeworld armies spoke with such certainty and belief. She snarled back, fighting against the pace of the warp stream. “You will never reactivate the kindergarten on Earth!”

“The kindergarten?” Snowflake Obsidian paused for a moment of confusion, then cackled with a menacing grin “I was never one to babysit.”

Garnet felt her grip loosen as Snowflake Obsidian kicked her hand with her free leg. She was then forced to release as a chakram narrowly cut past the side of Garnet’s face.

There was nothing more she could do as her opponent escaped. Snowflake Obsidian leapt from their stream and into another nearby ribbon of light. The thread of shimmering magic was then abruptly cut, a result of one of the pads being smashed. Garnet floated in the warp stream for a few moments, extremely confused and thankful. While this chain of events had the lowest probability of occurring, Steven seemed to have started the sequence. She only hoped it would continue to a more fortunate conclusion.

 

* * *

 

 

Reluctantly, Steven finally pushed the covers up slightly, the light stang his eyes as they adjusted. Pearl was measuring the hole left in the front wall from Amethyst and Snowflake Obsidian’s fight. She diligently jotted down numbers in a pad as she stretched the yellow tape measure between varying points of the damaged wall. When she realised he was watching her from the upper level, Pearl offered a nervous smile to him “It’s alright Steven, she’s gone and I’ll have this fixed in no time at all.”

He asked timidly “Pearl… did my mum really have that many enemies?”

Her mind was blank “Well… uh…”

“It’s just, all I hear about her is how nice and loving she was. Why would anyone dislike her for that?”

The warp pad chimed again, Garnet’s voice of reason cut through as the fusion entered the conversation. “War divides people, makes their emotions stronger than usual.” She looked up to Steven “Rose Quartz was the leader of the rebellion so she became the target of much hatred.”

Steven sat up, still hugging the covers around him “But if they just got to know her…”

Garnet ascended the stairs “That was the problem, they didn’t want to know her as a person.”

He pulled the blankets down to see Garnet knelt down before him “Why not? It’s just…” Steven admitted with a heavy heart “Snowy can be a nice person... I don’t want to make the same mistakes. I want to know her as a person.”

“Hard to say. Trust is a powerful force which is why it can be so dangerous if misled.”

“Do you think she’ll be back?”

Garnet looked out the window with a slight smirk “Definitely.”


End file.
